This collection contains Istanbul Telephone Directories published between 1929 and 1955. These directories contain the following information.

• The surname of the person (usually the head of household) or the name of the business.

• Address

• Telephone Number

Phone books also contain an introduction to useful local and operational information. Located at the front of the book, these pages may contain lists of abbreviations used, contact information for important government agencies, instructions on how to make long-distance calls, explanations of the exchanges and their coverage, or other necessary information in order to use the phone book and telephone equipment.

Phone books are very useful for pinpointing individuals in a particular place and time. While censuses were only conducted once every ten years, phone books were published around every one to two years, creating, in essence, an almost year-by-year record of individuals' geographic locations and movements.

Phone books are also very telling of an individual's economic and social status since telephone ownership is a prerequisite to an individual's inclusion within this collection. Early subscribers to the telephone service were typically large businesses or the well-to-do. Telephone ownership gradually increased, reflected by a corresponding growth in the size and number of phone books, and from the second quarter of the twentieth century, became more commonly adopted by domestic subscribers.